The Bay Rivers District goes into the Group AA state track and field meet at Liberty University on Saturday with high hopes. Lafayette High's boys will vie for a first team title in eight years, Tabb's girls will look to continue their 4x400 relay dynasty and Smithfield's Marquis Childress will attempt to increase his state meet gold medal count.

Lafayette heads to Lynchburg with a team deep in quality sprinters and distance runners. The question is whether that's enough to topple a depth-laden Blacksburg team.

"We feel every time we go out on the track, we have a chance to win," Lafayette coach Mel Jones said. "But in big meets there are things you can control and things you can't."

Derek Holdsworth and Kurtis Steck are two athletes Jones thinks give Lafayette the control to at least contend for the title. Holdsworth is the defending state champ in the 500 and, with a 1:06.65 season best, is among a group of four within one second of each other for the top AA time this season.

"Derek has a passion for the 500," Jones said. "He'd rather run that race than eat when he's hungry.

"Kurtis Steck is an unsung hero on this team. We think he has a real good chance to win the 3,200 (meter run)."

Steck comes into the meet with a best this winter of 9:21.04, virtually the same time as the AA state leader, Western Albermarle's David Taylor (9:21.04). Steck will open the day running on the Rams' 4x800 team that is expected to battle Blacksburg for the gold medal. Andrew Loper, Luke Tillis and Jason Menzies will join Steck on that quartet.

The Rams will end the day with the 4x400, a team that includes Holdsworth, Luke Tillis, Stephen Ruane and 300-meter standout Kwame Durant. Blacksburg will again be one of the teams they battle for the gold.

Before that, Tabb's girls 4x400 team hopes to captured the program's fifth consecutive gold medal in the event. The Tigers won the 4x400 in both the indoor and outdoor state meets the past two years.

The common denominator of those four gold medals is junior Taylor Omweg, who will be joined on this year's foursome by Brittni King, Micah Hanks and Aly Harmatz. The inspiration, it seems, is current Virginia Commonwealth star Kiara Porter, who ran on the first two gold-medal teams two years ago and competed in the Junior World Championships last summer.

"I admired her work ethic," said Hanks, who is also a gold medal contender in the 55 and 300 dashes. "She really worked hard."

King, who's ranked second in the state to Hanks in the 300, added, "Kiara really encouraged us and helped us learn the sport.

"There's a science behind track. It's not just running and she gave us advice on what to do."

Harmatz and Omweg have played on multiple state championship field hockey teams, but said that they take a lot of pride in helping continue the 4x400 dynasty. King pointed to another source of motivation for lowering the school record time of 3:59.1 and winning on Saturday.

"This is the last (AA) meet before they change the classifications," she said, referring to the move from three to six classes for state public schools next year. "If we keep the record (the Tigers set last year), we've got it forever."

Smithfield's Marquis Childress burst onto the state track scene two years ago by winning the long jump title indoors. He enters Saturday's meet ranked second in the long jump and the triple jump, but with marks — 22 feet, 2.5 inches in the long jump and 46-7 in the triple — only a shade off the top ranking in the state.

His toughest competition could come from within Region I. Brunswick's Dominique Hardy enters the meet first in the long jump at 23-0 and third in the triple at 22-0 3/4.

"It's always close and always goes back and forth with us," Childress said of his duels with Hardy.